News from the Heart & Soul of San Francisco
After a year behind scaffolding and decades under paint, the red brick beauty of a building at Steiner and Pine was unveiled Wednesday afternoon when the scaffolding came down. Inside it houses the California Pacific Medical Center Foundation. But it’s the outside that commands attention, now returned to its original appearance in 1897 when the…
AT 9 this morning, Vivande opened its doors to the public for the first time in three weeks. At 11, an auctioneer began selling the furnishings and equipment. Most of the two dozen people milling around seemed to be dealers in used restaurant supplies, although there were a few neighbors, too. Back in the kitchen…
LOCALS | JAMES CARBERRY “I was standing right here when it hit,”says Ed Nahigian, the veteran owner of San Francisco Boot & Shoe Repair, occupying his usual position behind the front counter where he greets customers. It’s the same place he was standing shortly after 5 p.m. on Tuesday, October 17, 1989, talking to a customer who…
By Syed Ali Bud Martinez comes to work most Monday mornings at the garage at the Shell gas station at California and Steiner Streets, just as he has for more than 50 years — and more than a decade after he sold the station and vowed to retire. In 1952, he started working at the…
In 1881, San Franciscans watched the construction of the imposing red brick and stone building at the corner of Sacramento and Webster Streets, but none knew the purpose of the five-story building going up in one of the most fashionable areas of the city.
In the late 1980s, while driving down Geary Street in San Francisco, designer Tony Duquette discovered an abandoned and vandalized synagogue. He immediately purchased the building. After thoroughly remodeling and updating the structure [located on Geary near Fillmore where the post office now stands], Tony began creating a new exhibition named the Canticle of the…
By Donna Gillespie While wandering through the haze of sizzling teriyaki burgers and listening to the pounding of Taiko drums at the Nihonmachi Street Fair last month, you might have been asked to sign a petition supporting the event, or seen people wearing stickers that said “Save Our Festivals.” It was a response to a…
“Fillmore Street Lights Its Lamps,” the Chronicle reported on December 24, 1896. “Crowds Throng the Walks,” the headlines announced. “Brilliant lights and colors abound — a dazzling spectacle with an accompaniment of music.”
LOCAL HISTORY | JOE BEYER It won’t be long now before the fading neon sign proclaiming Deovlet and Sons Furniture on the shuttered storefront at 1660 Pine Street gives way to the wrecking ball and a pair of condominium towers begins to rise. But for 67 years, Deovlet and Sons — known as “the Friendly…
In 2005 it snowed in the neighborhood on the hottest day of the year — and 15,000 people showed up to watch world-class skiers jump down the Fillmore hill. The ski jump is back, but this year it won’t be on Fillmore. Organizers have announced that the event will move to AT&T Park, where a…